The Photographs
by Phex Sev'laya
Summary: Ebisu's photos wound up in the wrong places...
Bishamon sat at her desk, reviewing several of the documents that would tell her what she needed to accomplish in the next few days. She had been at it for hours, still working to catch up on time missed searching for Ebisu at Capypa Land. Not that she regretted the day... it had been fun spending time with Kazuma. She needed to find time to do that with all of her Regalia.

"Excuse me, but this has just arrived from Ebisu." Kazuma began, striding into the room and interrupting her train of thought. "It was hand delivered by Kunimi. He would not say what it was, and I don't believe he knew himself."

"I see," Bishamon replied, reaching out her hand for the envelope. He handed it over at once. It was white and unmarked, and seemed to be thicker than a regular letter. She opened it, tipping it out to remove its contents.

Into her hand dropped five photographs, on the top of which sat a simple note. 'Thank you for today –Ebisu.'

She set it aside, revealing the photos beneath it. She was distinctly aware of Kazuma's presence over her shoulder. He also seemed very interested in what the photos might contain, and whether or not anyone else had seen them if they had anything that could hurt her image…

But the photos in the envelope were not of the two of them on their day at the park.

The first contained a very odd looking Yato, who was getting his photo taken with one of the Capypas. The rest told a similar story. Yato clinging to a Capypa with his regalia and that girl, Hiyori, posing in front. Next was a very emotional Hiyori clinging to a surprised Yato; she chose to skip over that one quickly and move on. The other two told similar stories, all were fun, and she fully intended on using them to mock Yato sometime down the road.

She tidied them up and slotted them back into the envelope and was about to move to her desk for safekeeping when Kazuma gasped, grabbed them from her hands, and set off at a sprint for the door.

. . .

Yato sat by the door, staring out into the night. It was quiet out, and the day's events had left him tired. He was about to stand, when Hiyori came over and sat beside him.

"Yukine gave this to me and told me to give it to you. Apparently Kunimi delivered it for Ebisu a short while ago."

The envelope she handed him was small and unmarked, and Yato suspected it was filled with pictures taken earlier that day. He opened it quickly, sliding the contents out into his hand. There was a note, and four pictures. 'I took these today and thought you may want them – Ebisu'

Yato discarded the note, and decided that Ebisu would become a very close friend to him. The first photo was of Bishamon looking somewhat amused and surprised at the Capypa ears being placed on her head by Kazuma. This would be spectacular blackmail…

The next photo caused him to question whether or not the parcel was indeed intended for him, as it wasn't exactly blackmail material. Bishamon and Kazuma sat on a bench perhaps slightly closer than was appropriate, but not unduly so. What set this photo apart was the look that Kazuma was giving Bishamon when she was turned away. It was the look of a man gazing at his heart's desire, and knowing that despite being right there they were still out of reach.

By the time he had reached the third photo, his desire for blackmail was gone, and he was focused entirely on interpreting what was happening in the photos. In this one, Bishamon was placing the Capypa ears that had been on her head on Kazuma's. His eyes were wide open in shock, but he was turned away. She was just out of sight, far enough that he couldn't see that she was giving him the same look he had been giving her in the previous photo. Yato knew now that he would need to return these to their proper owner. Were their positions reversed, he would give anything to have these. Of course, he wouldn't ask for anything. It wouldn't be proper in this situation.

The last picture was more intimate that he had prepared himself for. The two of them were hardly more than silhouettes in front of a backdrop of fireworks, and Kazuma appeared to be pulling Bishamon into him. Into a kiss. A kiss which she seemed to be happily returning. He didn't look any further, simply placing them back in the order they had been in, replacing the note and holding the envelope closed. He stood and turned to leave the house.

"What are you going to do with those? Please don't tell me you're about to go blackmail them!" Hiyori exclaimed.

"No, just return them to who they should be with." Yato replied with a smile. With that, he was gone; transporting himself up to Takamagahara. Once there, he strode quickly to Bishamon's office. He was met at the door by Kazuma, who seeded to be in quite a rush to get somewhere.

"Yato!" He shouted before calming his voice. "You didn't happen to receive an envelope from Ebisu did you?"

Yato looked past him to where Bishamon was standing. Kazuma's question seemed to hit her hard, and he watched as what little color she possessed drained from her face. He ignored Kazuma, and made his way to Bishamon. This needed to be said both of them. Kazuma, of course, followed him closely.

"You…" She said, "did you, you didn't…"

"I did receive such a package." He replied, seeing the one clutched in her hand and putting the pieces together. Kunimi must have delivered the unmarked packages to the wrong places. Which meant that the one she held likely contained photos of Yato.

"I wish both of you the best of luck. You may face some opposition, but I support you."

With that, he handed the photos of them over to Bishamon and carefully took the ones she held from her hand. He then turned sharply on his heel and left.

. . .

"That went better than I had expected." Kazuma stated as Bishamon looked through the photos while sitting at her desk.

"Yes, it was a very pleasing turn of events." She agreed. This had to have been close to the thirtieth time she had gone through them, but despite this they held her interest very well. She glanced over at the current photo on her desk. It was simple; her with all of her battle Regalia equipped running into battle. She took it out of the frame, and replaced it with the photo of them kissing.

"Wait, Veena, are you sure that's wise? Not everyone might consider such a thing to be proper."

"Of course I'm not sure, but that's why I have you is it not? I'm going to need you to guide me through this, and that has always been what you do the best."


End file.
